SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

28 - cute little cafés

BRIAR WOKE UP at a table at a sidewalk café.

For a second, she thought she was still dreaming. It was a sunny morning. The air was brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sat chatting and drinking coffee.

She could smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passed in front of quaint little shops. The street was lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as if winter was a foreign concept.

In other words: she was in California.

Her friends sat in chairs around her — all of them with their hands calmly folded across their chests, dozing pleasantly. And they all had new clothes on. Briar looked down at her own outfit and squealed. "New dress!"

She yelled louder than she meant. Jason flinched, bumping the table with his knees, and then all of them were awake.

"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabbed the table. "No — not falling. Where are we?"

Jason blinked, trying to get his bearings. He focused on Leo and made a little choking sound. "What are you wearing?"

Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"You look like an absolute dork," Briar told him.

"Shut the hell up," he said, but his cheeks were pink. "How did we get these outfits?"

Briar looked down. She was wearing the turquoise dress she'd seen in her dream, with black leggings and black leather boots. She had on Reyna's jacket, which amazingly went with the outfit pretty well, and sunglasses hung on the jacket. She pulled out Katoptris, and judging from the reflection in the blade, she'd gotten her hair done, too. It had a giant bow in it. It was very cute.

"It's my—" Briar remembered Aphrodite's warning not to mention that they'd talked. "It's nothing."

Leo grinned. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, Briar Rose."

"And you look like the biggest idiot ever."

"I told you to shut up!"

"I think he looks good," said Coach Hedge. "'Course, I look better."

The satyr was a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.

Never mind, Briar thought. The biggest idiot title switched hands.

"Well," Jason said, "at least your mom overlooked me."

Briar knew that wasn't exactly true, even if she's a lesbian. Jason was dressed simply in jeans and a clean purple T-shirt, like he'd worn at the Grand Canyon. He had new track shoes on, and his hair was newly trimmed. His eyes were the same color as the sky. Aphrodite's message was clear: This one needs no improvement.

And Leo clearly agreed, judging by the way his eyes roamed over Jason appreciatively.

"Anyway," Briar said uncomfortably, "how did we get here?"

"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge said, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would've been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift — a nice soft breeze — cushioned our fall."